Thanks for bringing to the forefront the increasing problem of trashing the forest. The days of anti-littering campaigns seem to have gone by the wayside.
In the winter I skijor with my dog Kinack but in the summer we hike 5-6 days per week. I have always been one to bend over and pick up trash but my dog is a super trash collector. I never taught him to do this but he has a super nose for “trash.” He brings it out of the woods and delivers it to me. I now bring a bag with me when we hike to put the stuff in. One day on the way up to Burnt Lake he took off down a scree slope and disappeared into the forest at the bottom only to re-emerge with a back packer hammock still in the bag. I have had him dig down into the snow and come up with sunglasses, hats, gloves. He has found numerous bottles and cans. One had been out there so long it had moss growing on it. He has found jackets, T-shirts, underwear (ick), multiple pairs of sunglasses, prescription glasses, a fishing pole, walkie-talkie, all kinds of hats.
Unfortunately he also finds human waste. This has sickened him a couple of times. To me this is worse than the discarded poop bags (which I also pick up and haul out). Leaving toilet paper and poop is trashing the forest. Feces needs to be buried or hauled out in a poop bag. Toilet paper can be hauled out in a zip lock baggie or buried. It is NOT OK to leave it laying on the forest floor.
We often hike the same trails and I notice after a few times hiking them he is no longer finding trash. Trail cleared!
It is time to bring back the anti-litter campaigns of the past.
Kim Tinker
Letters to the publisher: Kim Tinker
